Read more about the article #MACoCon Attendees Explore How to Best Support Local Health Departments
Coronavirus / Health and Human Services / Winter Conference
#MACoCon Attendees Explore How to Best Support Local Health Departments

At the 2023 MACo Winter Conference, attendees explored the vast roles of local health departments, their unique state-local infrastructure, and how county governments can best support them. Local health departments are a robust resource for citizens from clinics for routine care and addiction treatment to elder care services and safety classes for new parents. These teams of physicians, nurses, social workers, sanitarians, counselors, therapists and other allied health and support personnel are ready to help. At…

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January 12, 2023
Read more about the article The Complexity of One School District’s Declining Enrollment
Coronavirus / Education / Winter Conference
The Complexity of One School District’s Declining Enrollment

New Orleans, like many Maryland school districts, is facing declining public school enrollment, but has a unique set of circumstances complicating strategies to address the looming crisis.  When the COVID-19 pandemic swept through the country, our public schools had to quickly adjust to new and creative ways of serving kids. As schools moved to virtual learning, the combined burdens of working from home, managing virtual learning, and caring for family resulted in some Maryland families turning to other options…

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November 17, 2022
Read more about the article Colorado Voters Approve Free School Meals for Public School Students
Coronavirus / Education / Employee Benefits and Relations / NACo and Federal Issues
Colorado Voters Approve Free School Meals for Public School Students

Colorado voters decisively approved a statewide ballot measure to provide free meals for all public school students. Last week, Colorado voters approved a statewide ballot measure to create a program to provide free school meals for all public school students and to help schools pay for the meal program. The measure passed comfortably with 55 percent to 45 percent margin. The now-approved program will provide state funds for the free meals by raising $100 million a year by…

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November 14, 2022
Read more about the article Baltimore City Clean Corps Invests in Neighborhoods
Coronavirus / County News / Transportation and Public Works
Baltimore City Clean Corps Invests in Neighborhoods

Baltimore City's new Clean Corps program seeks to address trash while also providing employment to those who need it most. In partnership with the Baltimore Department of Public Works, Clean Corps is a grant program that improves the City’s capacity to clean and maintain spaces in up to 15 historically disinvested neighborhoods from a targeted list of 33 neighborhoods throughout Baltimore. The program partners with nonprofits and community groups to hire residents to clean their…

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November 1, 2022
Read more about the article National Data: Schools See Doubling of Chronic Absenteeism
Coronavirus / Education / NACo and Federal Issues
National Data: Schools See Doubling of Chronic Absenteeism

Post-pandemic schooling is proving challenging for a number of reasons, from staffing shortages, to learning loss, to supply chain issues. Of growing concern, however, is a staggering jump in chronic absenteeism. Here, we examine national data that suggests the problem is deep and widespread. When the COVID-19 pandemic swept through the country, our public schools had to quickly adjust to new and creative ways of serving Maryland’s kids. As schools moved to virtual learning, the combined burdens…

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October 19, 2022
Read more about the article How Some States are Using Tutoring to Close the COVID Gap
Coronavirus / Education / NACo and Federal Issues
How Some States are Using Tutoring to Close the COVID Gap

States around the country are deepening and expanding targeted tutoring programs to address pandemic learning loss. Here's how they're doing it. School districts around the country experienced extensive learning loss resulting from the the COVID-19 pandemic -- and Maryland students were not spared. In fact, recent statewide testing data show that only one-third of Maryland fifth and eighth graders passed the state’s first statewide science examine given since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic started. Education…

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October 19, 2022
Read more about the article State Superintendent Choudhury Talks Blueprint and Quadrupling School Funding
Coronavirus / County Budgets / Education / Intergovernmental Relations / State Budget and Fiscal Issues
State Superintendent Choudhury Talks Blueprint and Quadrupling School Funding

State Superintendent Mohammed Choudhury recently joined EduRecoveryHub's podcast to talk COVID recovery and school funding. On the opening episode of the second season of EduRecoveryHub's podcast, Route K-12 Exploring Education Recovery, State Superintendent Mohammed Choudhury joined Collaborative for Student Success Director Jim Cowen to discuss the toll COVID-19 disruptions had on students in Maryland and how the state is quadrupling down on federal funding. The Route K-12 Exploring Education Recovery podcast travels the country "on a…

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October 13, 2022
Read more about the article How Locals Used Federal Pandemic Aid to Boost Employment and Labor
Coronavirus / Economic Development / Education / Employee Benefits and Relations / Health and Human Services / Human Resources / NACo and Federal Issues
How Locals Used Federal Pandemic Aid to Boost Employment and Labor

According to one expert, federal COVID policies and direct aid to states and locals helped improve the labor market by addressing short-term and longstanding challenges in the workforce. Donald Cohen, executive director of the national nonprofit organization In the Public Interest and co-author of "The Privatization of Everything," recently published commentary arguing that the federal government's COVID-19 response -- and especially direct financial aid -- improved the labor market. The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)…

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October 13, 2022
Read more about the article Anne Arundel Launches Grants for Local Artists
Business Affairs / Coronavirus / County News
Anne Arundel Launches Grants for Local Artists

Anne Arundel County and the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County launched a grant program allocating $267,500 in Federal American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds to local artists to assist with ongoing financial losses sustained due to COVID-19. Anne Arundel County-based independent, professional artists can apply for one-time grants up to $2,500 to assist with ongoing financial losses sustained due to COVID-19. A recent study conducted by Americans for the Arts discussed the pandemic’s devastating impact on…

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October 12, 2022
Read more about the article Why Does the State’s School Enrollment Count Matter?
Coronavirus / County Budgets / Education / Policy Deep Dive / State Budget and Fiscal Issues
Why Does the State’s School Enrollment Count Matter?

How Maryland counts full time students enrolled in the state's public schools has long factored into how the state funds public education, namely at a per pupil required funding minimum. The Blueprint for Maryland's Future -- Maryland’s major education policy reform initiative -- altered the school enrollment count and subsequent funding processes, namely how we determine the state/local split in public education funding. Here, we provide an overview of that process, how it impacts funding, and what…

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October 6, 2022
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